


Kissing Strangers

by camxi



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alcohol, Drunkenness, Implied Sexual Content, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, One Night Stands, Swearing, honestly idk i just wrote words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:00:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29501679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camxi/pseuds/camxi
Summary: Minghao slowly brought his eyes down, bit by bit, until he was looking at the unknown arm grasped tightly around his waist.What the hell?Minghao and Mingyu drown their sorrows in alcohol after their friends force them to go clubbing.
Relationships: Kim Mingyu/Xu Ming Hao | The8
Kudos: 31





	Kissing Strangers

**Author's Note:**

> yo  
> uh this was inspired by the song “Kissing Strangers” by DNCE (also where the title comes from). listen to it if u want i guess, i mean i can’t really tell you what to do ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> enjoy

  
Minghao’s head was pounding and all of his muscles ached. He laid still for a few moments, doing nothing, thinking nothing. He took in a deep breath and sluggishly started to move his limbs. Slowly he managed to turn his body over onto its side. His eyelids fluttered open and then quickly shut after meeting the blinding sunlight that shone through the window. He decided to keep his eyes closed for now and instead focus on waking up his body.

As he slowly regained consciousness and feeling, Minghao noticed that he was naked. Normally he put pajamas on before he went to sleep but he figured that he must have just been too tired last night. He carefully stretched his body out, trying not to move too fast. But something else was off? His sheets were different. When he dragged his arm across the material it felt unfamiliar. Deciding that he was crazy and that it was probably just too early in the morning to properly think, Minghao reached to grab his phone on the bed side table. He turned it on and squinted at the bright screen. Scrolling through his notifications, he saw nothing important besides a text from Soonyoung. He opened his messages to see a text from his friend that read

“I told you ;)”

Told him what?

He sighed and immediately gave up on deciphering his friend's weird message. Minghao set his phone back down, preparing to get up but his movements were stalled by the sound of someone stirring in bed next to him. Before he could turn over to look at the source of the sound an arm fell across him and pulled him closer. Minghao slowly brought his eyes down, bit by bit, until he was looking at the unknown arm grasped tightly around his waist.

What the hell?

  
  


“Why do I have to be here Seokmin?” Mingyu asked with annoyance.

“Gyu it’s been forever since your breakup with Wonwoo but you’re still sad! You need to get back out there!”

“I’m not sad anymore,” Mingyu explained. Seokmin sighed.

“Mingyu. You literally cry all the time.”

“No I don’t,” Mingyu denied.

“You cried just yesterday when you dropped your ice cream!” Seokmin exclaimed.

“Ok but that was totally justified!”

“Please Mingyu. It’s for your own good. I just want you to be happy.” Seokmin looked at his friend with wide puppy dog eyes and an exaggerated pout.

“Fine, but you’re paying for my drinks,” Mingyu gave in.

  
  


“No.”

“Please Haoooo!” Soonyoung whined.

“I have things to do, I only came here because I thought there was an emergency.” Minghao explained, an obvious frown on his face.

“This is an emergency!”

“Going to the club is not an emergency.”

“But I don’t wanna go alone!” Soonyoung cried dramatically.

“Ask someone else.”

“I miss you Hao. You’ve been so busy at work that we haven’t had any time to hang out.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t control my workload.” Minghao was starting to feel a little guilty. It was true that he had been absent lately because of his job. He understood why his friends, Soonyoung for example, would feel neglected.

“Yes you can! You voluntarily took on more work and you even work on weekends!”

“I’m trying to get a promotion so I have to put in a little extra work.”

“But Haoooo!”

“Can't this wait? We’ll hang out soon, I promise.”

“This isn’t just for me Hao. You haven’t gotten to have fun or relax in like forever and it’s making you a cranky old man.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Minghao said with a roll of his eyes.

“Not really HaoHao. You don’t have any fun nowadays! How long has it been since you’ve been laid?”

“Not everyone is a sex addict like you Soonyoung.”

“This is different! You’re so grumpy. You need a good fuck.”

“Do you want to die?” Minghao threatened, raising his arm as if we were to hit the other.

“Ok ok ok. But we’re already here so you might as well just come with me.” Soonyoung grinned victoriously. Minghao sighed.

“I’ll be at the bar.”

  
  


Minghao sat on a barstool, listening to the deafeningly loud music that’s bass vibrated the floor. Bodies were packed so tightly together that it would be impossible to pass by without brushing up against many other unknown body parts. Kissing, grinding and whatever other obscene thing you could think of was plentiful in the crowd. People danced and moved all together as one, like a giant school of drunk, horny fish. Minghao would need a lot of alcohol if he was going to survive this night without going crazy.

“Can I get a single?” Minghao requested as the bartender passed by him.

“Can I have a double?” Another voice asked from behind Minghao’s chair. Minghao squinted his eyes in a glare at the stranger, perceiving the man’s order as a challenge. (In reality it probably wasn’t a challenge but Minghao was extremely competitive and refused to be outdone.)

“Can I get a double?” Minghao changed his order. The other man turned to look at him but Minghao continued to stare straight forward.

“Actually can I just get 3 shots?” The stranger asked, wearing a small smile while the order slipped from his mouth.

“Same here.” Minghao announced looking the other man directly in his eyes. The stranger stared back with an equal fire, neither of them wanting to be the first to look away. However, their impromptu stare down was interrupted by the bartender harshly setting down six shot glasses in front of the pair. He poured the shots, very irritated, and then walked to the other end of the bar, probably to avoid getting stuck in another weird interaction between the two. Minghao reached for one of the shots. He drank it quickly, the liquid burning as it washed down his throat.

“Why all the shots? Do you have a gun fight in the morning?” The stranger joked.

“No but it’s so loud in here, I need something to help me disassociate from reality. What about you?”

“My friend forced me to come here tonight so he gets to have the pleasure of dragging my giant, unconscious body home.” The stranger followed up his sentence with a shot. Minghao laughed and gave the man a cautious smile. He returned the smile with a small grin of his own.

“Minghao,” he declared, reaching his hand out towards the other.

“Mingyu,” the stranger responded, accepting Minghao’s handshake.

“So why did your friend force you to come here?” Minghao asked.

“He thinks I’m still sad about my last breakup.”

“Are you?”

“No but he still doesn’t think I’m over it.”

“How long has it been since the breakup?”

“Four months.”

“Yikes, and you’re still not over your ex?”

“I am. He just thinks I’m not.”

“I’m guessing she broke up with you?”

“It was mutual. And he, not she.” Mingyu clarified.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“So what did you do to piss him off?”

“Nothing, I said it was mutual. He had fallen in love with someone else, our other friend. And our friend liked my ex too. I didn’t want to pretend that he was still in love with me and I didn’t want to hold them back from being happy. So we talked about it and decided to break up, and I told him I’d be fine.” Mingyu had a faraway look in his eyes, like he wasn’t actually talking about himself but some other poor soul, completely separate from him.

“But you’re not fine?” Minghao posed carefully.

“I don’t know,” Mingyu said shortly before downing another shot.

“Well you’re not alone. My friend also forced me to be here,” Minghao admitted, trying to steer the conversation away from the other man’s misfortunes.

“Why?” Mingyu asked, coming back to reality.

“He’s mad at me because I’ve been busy with work and I haven’t had any time to hang out with him. He says I work too much and I need to get laid because I’m grumpy.”

“You are kinda grumpy,” Mingyu teased. Minghao sent him a glare.

“Where do you work?” Mingyu inquiried.

“At a photography studio, I’m a stylist.”

“For real? I work in a photography studio too, as an assistant photographer and an editor.”

“Where’s the studio you work at?”

“It’s up near the university.”

“That explains why I haven’t seen you before. Our studio is downtown.”

“I wanted to work in a studio closer to the city but my friend convinced me to work with him.” Minghao nodded and then looked the other up and down curiously.

“Are you sure you’re a photographer? You look more like a model.”

“Did you just check me out?” Mingyu asked with a smirk and a tilt of his head.

“No,” Minghao responded casually but the small smile on his face suggested otherwise.

“Yes I really am a photographer. And technically a manual laborer too with all the stuff they have me move and set up. So what’s made you so busy recently?”

“I’ve been doing extra stuff because I want to get my name out there and make some good connections. I’d like to be a designer in the future, if I can make it that far. I have a few designs and ideas but nothing solid yet. But I really want to make my own brand someday,” Minghao jabbered on with a sparkle in his eyes. Mingyu looked the other up and down carefully.

“You look like you have pretty good style, I’m sure you’ll do good,” Mingyu said with a reassuring nod.

“Now who’s checking out who?” Minghao taunted playfully.

“Hey, I’ll admit it. I checked you out.” Mingyu put his hands up as if he had been caught committing a crime.

“You said it not me,” Minghao said with a shrug and a smile.

“You’re pretty,” Mingyu confessed while looking at the other adoringly. The sudden compliment caught Minghao off guard and a small blush escaped onto his cheeks. He shook his head slightly to pull himself together and he attempted to return to his normal, causal composure.

“You too,” he replied, a little late but Mingyu didn’t seem to mind. He only picked up his glass and held it out towards Minghao.

“Cheers?” Mingyu offered. Minghao reached for a glass of his own and brought it up to clink against the other’s.

“Cheers.”

  
  


“I’m so nice. I gave up my relationship to let them be together. That was so nice of me! And yet here I am. Super nice. And super single.” Mingyu slurred before dropping his head loudly onto the bar. Minghao silently agreed by continuously nodding his head, way too many times, like a bobble head. The two had formed a strangely fast friendship, based mainly on excessive alcohol consumption. 

“Hmm. Should we kill them?” Minghao proposed after downing his nth shot of the night. Mingyu looked up with furrowed brows, like he was actually considering the offer. But then he shook his head.

“No, no we can’t kill them. They’re my friends and they’re good people. I can’t really blame them honestly, you can’t control your feelings.”

“Sometimes we’re just drawn to other people and we can’t stop ourselves from wanting them. Even if we don’t want to like them, there’s something that won’t let us get away. It’s not fair but that’s how life is,” Minghao rambled on philosophically in his drunken state.

“Well, since we’ve decided that my life sucks, let’s talk about your problems now.” Minghao didn’t protest the subject change, so Mingyu went on.

“Are you gonna listen to your friend and try to go home with someone?”

“If I don’t I might need to shave my head and join a monastery,” Minghao said with a laugh before taking a sip of his drink.

“I don’t usually get intimate with people who I don’t have a relationship with. I guess it’s hard for me to separate love and lust. Is that bad? Ughhh this stuff is too confusing.” Minghao lowered his head to rest in his palm.

“I don’t know. I’ve always thought that we’re all just kissing strangers until we find one we love.”

“Hm. I guess you’re right.” Minghao raised his head just in time to catch sight of Soonyoung running into the bathroom with a hand clasped tightly over his mouth.

“Shit sorry, I have to go check on my friend. I’ll be back,” Minghao apologized as he hurried over to help Soonyoung. Minghao swung the bathroom door open before leaning his head into each of the stalls. He found Soonyoung crouched over a toilet, having just finished the task of efficiently emptying his stomach contents. Minghao rubbed his back softly while he scolded his friend.

“You need to stop drinking so much.”

“You can- you can never have too much alcohol,” Sooyoung stammered clumsily.

“Yes you can. It’s called alcohol poisoning.”

“Boo! That sucks!” Sooyoung yelled after sticking his tongue out childishly. Quickly his demeanor changed and he let out a large sigh. He put his hand on Minghao’s shoulder and looked him in the eye seriously.

“I’m gonna go get another drink,” he said randomly with a smile before skipping out of the bathroom as if he hadn’t just been throwing up his guts.

“Be careful!” Minghao called after him. Mingyu appeared at the doorway as Soonyoung exited and he looked over his shoulder to watch the strange man leave. Mingyu looked back to Minghao with a concerned look.

“Is your friend gonna be ok?” he asked, coming over to stand in front of the stall Minghao was in.

“Yeah he’ll be fine. If partying was a job then Soonyoung would be a professional. I just check up on him to make sure he doesn’t fatally injure himself.” Minghao said as he moved over next to Mingyu. The other man nodded.

“There’s nothing like watching a drunk person be violently ill to make you sober up.” Mingyu commented.

“Agreed.”

They turned to leave and go back to their spot at the bar but suddenly Mingyu was knocked into Minghao as someone else in the bathroom swung their door open, causing it to smack directly into Mingyu’s back. They fell forward but fortunately, their descent was stopped by the wall behind them. Minghao looked up from his position, smashed against the wall, to see Mingyu staring down at him with wide eyes. He had unintentionally caged the smaller man against the wall with his arms when he attempted to stop his fall.

Minghao began to blink rapidly as he became aware of the extremely short distance between their faces. Mingyu’s startled eyes unconsciously looked down at the other’s lips before briskly looking back up to Minghao’s eyes in embarrassment. This exchange continued for a few seconds, with either Mingyu or Minghao awkwardly glancing at the other’s lips, only to look away quickly before reluctantly peeking at it again. The temperature between them rose quickly and heat radiated from their hot breaths. They both stood, hesitant to do anything because they were both unsure of what the other was thinking.

Minghao moved first. He brought his hands up to cup the other’s face and pull him closer. Then he connected their lips together in a sweet kiss. Minghao kissed the other man slowly until Mingyu came out of his daze and started moving. Minghao’s hands left the other’s face and reached to wrap around the other’s neck. Mingyu removed his arms from the wall and they settled comfortably on the other’s waist.

Minghao leaned further forward to deepen the kiss and he pushed his body off the wall, sending the two stumbling backwards. Minghao continued to move forward until the pair were nearing the bathroom counter. Mingyu spun them around and lowered his hands from Minghao’s waist to help him jump up on the counter. With his new perch Minghao quickly hooked his legs around the other and tugged him closer, bringing their hips together. Mingyu moved his kissing from Minghao’s lips to his jaw and then his neck, leaving red and purple bruises and bite marks as he went. Minghao fumbled for the phone in his pocket while trying to stifle his moans. He somehow managed to successfully call a cab as Mingyu continued to ravage his neck.

Their lips only parted for the short time it took for them to exit the club and hop into the cab. Mingyu had about 3 seconds to tell the driver his address before Minghao was back on him, sucking and biting. Their fingers stayed intertwined as Mingyu pulled Minghao out of the cab and into the apartment building elevator.

Minghao impatiently fumbled with the buttons of Mingyu’s shirt while he mouthed at the other’s neck desperately. He victoriously ripped open the last button as Mingyu turned his key, unlocking the apartment. They staggered through the door and Minghao quickly abandoned his own shirt before Mingyu pushed him against the door, closing it swiftly. Minghao’s bare back slid against the smooth surface of the door as Mingyu lifted him up again. He crossed both his arms and legs around the other man, clutching him tightly like a koala. Their lips were still joined together passionately and Minghao’s fingers were entangled in the other’s now messy hair. Mingyu hurriedly locked the door and then carefully walked them to his bedroom.

Minghao wasn’t sure he was looking for love—but he sure as hell didn’t mind kissing strangers.

**Author's Note:**

> hopefully that wasn’t entirely terrible  
> i would love to hear what you thought about it!  
> thx for reading :3
> 
> [twt](https://twitter.com/camxiii?s=21)


End file.
